Back Tudigong German Tudigong French Tu Di Gong ID 토지신 Korean ꯇꯨꯗꯤ ꯁꯦꯟ MNI Tudi Gong Dutch Tudigong Polish ตี่จู๋เอี๊ยะ Thai Tu Di Gong Turkish Thổ công VI
| Tudigong | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 A shrine to a local Tudigong along the Ping Shan Heritage Trail, in Hong Kong | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 土地公 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Lord of the Land | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 土地 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 土公 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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A Tudigong (Chinese: 土地公; lit. 'Lord of the Land') is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location.[1] There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in certain regions.[2]
They are tutelary (i.e. guardian or patron) deities of locations and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.[3] They are portrayed as old men with long beards.[4]
The definitive characteristic of Tudigongs is that they are limited to their specific geographical locations. The Tudigong of one location is not the Tudigong of another location[1]
They are considered to be among the lowest ranked divinities,[5] just below City Gods[3] ("God of Local City"), and above landlord gods.
Often, a specific person who did a great service to their local community will be seen as becoming a Tudigong after their death.[6]
When people move from one location to another, they will say goodbye to their local Tudigong and worship the one of the new location[5][7]
The deities are considered to have a kind of appointed position like an alderman, with different deities being appointed to different areas.[8]
Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide.
- ^ a b "Tudi Gong | Chinese deity | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
- ^ 基隆市政府 (2020-08-26). "Nuannuan Twins Tudigong Temple". 基隆市政府. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
- ^ a b The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. Religions & Beliefs, edited by Prof. Dr M. Kamal Hassan & Dr. Ghazali bin Basri. ISBN 981-3018-51-8
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Stepanchuk Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts Tudigongwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "tudigong, god of the land, Manray Hsu". Retrieved 2024-02-06.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Shiv Visvanathan, “Mrs Brundtland’s Disenchanted Cosmos” (1991) in The Geopolitics Reader, eds. Gearóid Ó Tuathail, Simon Dalby, and Paul Routledge (London: Routledge, 1998).
- ^ Hall, Christopher A. (2009-01-01). "Tudi Gong in Taiwan". Southeast Review of Asian Studies. 31: 97–113.